Robbers force man at gunpoint to log into his online banking account

Marlon Meacham is serving nine years in a Tennessee prison for a 2004 armed robbery that involved ordering his victim to log on to an Internet bank account.

Meacham was convicted by a jury of one count of aggravated robbery and one count of aggravated burglary for invading Kelvin Martin's home and holding him at gunpoint. He appealed on grounds of insufficient evidence and improper trial procedures.

Here are some excerpts from the Tennessee state criminal appeals court's decision on April 19, which upheld Meacham's conviction. Note that it was a computer glitch (we suspect Microsoft Windows) that kept his online banking ploy from succeeding:

On the evening of April 13, 2004, the victim, Kelvin Martin, was home alone watching television when Javonta Charles knocked on the door to his apartment. Mr. Charles asked Mr. Martin if he had food stamps to sell. Mr. Martin said that he did not have any food stamps. Mr. Charles then asked to use his telephone. Mr. Martin allowed Mr. Charles to use his telephone. After using the telephone, Mr. Charles left the apartment.

Shortly after Mr. Charles departed, Mr. Martin heard another knock at the door. He answered the door, and it was Mr. Charles asking to use the telephone a second time. Mr. Martin agreed to let him use the telephone. As Mr. Charles stepped inside the door, two individuals, in addition to Mr. Charles, forced their way into the apartment. The intruders were carrying guns. Mr. Martin identified Defendant as one of the intruders. Defendant was carrying a nine millimeter handgun. Mr. Martin recognized Defendant because they were roommates for approximately two months in 2002. At the time of the incident, both Defendant and Mr. Charles were staying with a friend of Mr. Martin's, Damien Baker. Mr. Martin did not recognize the third individual, but said he was carrying a shotgun.

Defendant and the man with the shotgun instructed Mr. Martin to "strip down" and get down on the living room floor. Mr. Martin was scared and afraid that the intruders were going to shoot him. Both men had their guns pointed at Mr. Martin. Defendant instructed Mr. Charles to go and look around the bedroom. Mr. Charles did as told and returned to the living room carrying a duffle bag, a shotgun, and some duct tape. Mr. Charles attempted to tape Mr. Martin into a chair. Defendant continued to stand in front of Mr. Martin, pointing his gun at him throughout this process. Mr. Martin struggled, but allowed Mr. Charles to tape his hands "to a certain extent ... just to keep [the assailants] from shooting [him]." Defendant placed Mr. Martin's laptop computer on his lap and instructed Mr. Martin to pull up his bank account on the computer and plug in the password. Mr. Martin was not able to comply because the computer was improperly turned on and was showing an error message.

The intruders were in the apartment for approximately twenty minutes. Mr. Martin sustained injuries during the intrusion. Defendant struck Mr. Martin in the face with his pistol injuring the bridge of his nose. Mr. Martin was also kicked in the face which caused injuries to his left eye. When the intruders left the house, Mr. Martin saw them carrying his black backpack which contained several of Mr. Martin's personal belongings. Those belongings included Mr. Martin's wallet, car keys, including the key fob for his car alarm, house keys, cell phone, clothes, compact discs, and his laptop computer. Mr. Martin estimated that the items had a value of $500.00.

[shycelticwitch]

This happens every day in capitalist America

I had to laugh at this one. For once, a capitalist pig got back
some of his own medicine. Here is why I think that way:

Those of you in America who are working for minimum wage, or
are making less than $20 an hour for a skilled position like
graphic design or technical engineering, are being robbed by
your employers.

The gap between rich and poor gets larger every day, and by
letting your employers rake in $150-$300 an hour for work that
you are getting paid practically nothing for, you are helping
them get away with it.

I can visualize another American Civil War in the next 10 years.
Only this time, it will be FORCED SLAVERY that is the issue, and
it will be SLAVES that win this war.

Why will they win? Because the Republican money pigs have not
been paying attention to these little groups of repressed
taxpayers getting together around the country.

What stood out the most (in my mind) about the VT killlings is
the repeated use of the words "spoiled rich kids".

Why Cho did what he did is no mystery, and it's going to start
happening a lot more, and on a bigger scale. The working class
citizens of this country are sick and tired of watching their
employers become fat cats off the hard work they receive little
compensation for.

It is this greed that is fueling the influx of illegal immigrants
who WILL work for next to nothing, because that's all they know
how to do.

I quit working for others and started my own small business 5
years ago. I now have a more comfortable life, but I don't own a
yacht, or a 4,000 square foot home, or 3 Mercedes. But I DO
have medical insurance, time off for my family and a nice
savings for retirement.

I am a designer with 25 years experience and a boatload of
talent and creativity (according to my peers), who is now making
$35 an hour working out of my home, instead of $12 an hour
working for a "design studio" who's owner was taking home
$350,000 a year, and had never created a thing in his life.

I convinced the other 5 experienced designers to jump ship as
well over the next 2 years, and now the fat cat has had to hire
new ones who have no experience but are willing to work for
peanuts. Results: the loss of 50% of his yearly revenue because
he was unwilling to properly compensate those who were
making him rich.

And I don't feel one bit guilty.

Unfortunately, people who used to have the same resolve and
determination are being beaten down by the economy and lack
of wage increases to compensate for our current president's
need to fill his pockets with oil money before we boot him out.

The more "little" people are "trampled" by the "corporate
elephants", the more workplace and public killing sprees you're
going to see.

Until it escalates in to a full blown civil war, with the filthy rich
hiding behind their gated walls with military protection, and the
rest of poor America laying seige.

The way I figure it, we poor people will not have to fire one shot
at this point... we are many, and they are few. We shall just lay
seige in shifts, keeping out food and necessities.

It will take about a week for the capitalists to realize that they
cannot live without caviar and Dom Perignon, they will
surrender. and capitulate to giving those who made them rich
just a wee bit larger slice of the American Pie, so ALL of us can
one day own a home, or a car, or have health insurance.

And for those of you who are here illegally? You're just as much
at risk as the fat cats. We want you out of our country, out of
our welfare system and out of our ENGLISH speaking schools.
And if you think that your fat capitalist employers are going to
save you when the war starts, you're sadly mistaken. They could
care less about your welfare. They only want the profits you
provide by working for practically nothing.

Peace